Aashayein - Welcome change from Bollywood

Finally Bollywood is breaking free from the so called  'formulae', peppy songs, dances, skinshow... Aashayein is one such different movie, unlike the regular bollywood flick. Kudos to Nagesh Kukunoor for making such a sensitive movie. The movie is a heart touching portrayal of human emotions. It is all about a young man (John Abraham) who comes to know that he has got only three months left to live and how he lives those three months. Everybody may not like the movie as it is short on entertainment. But if you can feel it, the tale no doubt moves you.

John Abraham is a revelation as an actor in the movie. The movie proves once again that good story telling is what makes a good movie, not shooting it in foreign locations.

Telugammayi

There is a new Telugu movie called 'Maryada Ramanna' (మర్యాద రామన్న), which has a song that starts with 'Telugammayi' (తెలుగమ్మాయి) . The song goes on to describe a Telugu girl so beautifully. Not just this movie, there have been many movies in recent past which had songs extolling the good qualities of a Telugu girl. Ironically none of the heroines enacting the role of that beautiful Telugu girl was a Telugu girl. May be the movie makers don't find Telugu girls beautiful enough. May be it is the Telugu audiences who don't find Telugu girls good enough to be heroines. We like only those fair skinned girls who come from Mumbai, Goa, Delhi..any place other than Andhra Pradesh. It is probably true that men like exotic women. If Telugu girls are not really beautiful, those songs must be hypocritical. What I don't understand is why these songs go on to become big hits. May be the people of AP have not really noticed the irony.

But Telugu girls make good sisters in our movies. And these girls from other states don't make such good sisters. Can you see why? I think it has got to do with the psyche of a typical man. Hope you can guess what I mean.

How are teams built?

I always wondered if we need to spend so much money on the so called team building exercises. A highly paid speaker comes and speaks about the qualities of winning teams. Some games, which supposedly illustrate team spirit, are played. I always found them either boring or amusing, but not useful. We grow up in a society that values individual achievements more than collective achievements. So, it is difficult for us imbibe true team spirit. And we don't become good team players just by listening to speeches or playing mock games.

In my view, the ultimate team building exercise is to make a team fight a war against another team. It is only in a war that true camaraderie is built. But we can't make teams in organizations fight wars. If there is any exercise that comes close to a war in building teams, it is to make a team play a sport against another team. Of course, the teams should seriously play to win. All individuals will work towards a common goal, that is to win. And a common enemy, the other team, strengthens the bond between the members of a team. There might be some aberrations, but it has been largely successful in building cohesive teams.

Unfortunately not many managers in IT companies understand this. May be they never played sports.

Bandh is dead.. An alternative

'Bandh', which literally means 'shut down' in English, has been the most employed form of mass protest in India for decades. The idea behind 'bandh' was that people show their protest by voluntarily shutting down almost everything, offices, shops, transport... Until two decades ago, a day of bandh was not so much of inconvenience to the people. It was in fact an extra holiday. Kids did not have to go to school. Most of the workers were employed by the Government and nobody cared if the offices stay closed for another day. Life was slow then and a day of bandh did not really disturb anything. It was also an easy form of protest as all that one had to do was to stay home all day. So most of the bandhs were 'successful' then.

But things have really changed in the last 15 or so years. We live in a more globalized society now and life has become relatively faster. A day of bandh upsets lot of things, lot of schedules. In today's competitive world, parents and schools are not happy about an extra holiday. Most of the employment is in the private sector and workers have no choice but to go to offices anyway. Shopkeepers don't want to lose a day's business; so shops are only 'half-closed'. A bandh is normally 'unsuccessful' these days unless it is 'enforced' by the party which calls for it. People generally don't like things being forced on them; they show their defiance in subtle ways like keeping the shops open. So a bandh is no longer serving its purpose as a form of protest. And governments too have stopped taking notice of bandhs. As a democratic nation we need an effective form of protest and it is high time we choose another form of protest.

I suggest an alternative. Instead of calling for a bandh, political parties ( or people's organizations or Maoists) shall appeal to people to show their displeasure by wearing a black ( it can be any dark color) arm band or a black badge on their clothes. Nothing is shut down and life goes on as usual. It is also a much easier form of protest. If the cause really resonates with public sentiment, we can see a truly voluntary mass protest. The mood of the nation also can be gauged just by looking at the number of people wearing a black badge on the streets. Governments too can't afford to ignore public dissatisfaction about an important issue like 'price rise'.

Threat to Indian democracy - Part 1

Some facts to consider...

1. Shiela Dixit of Congress has won three successive terms (1998,2003 and 2008) and been ruling the state of Delhi since 1998.
2. Congress, along with NCP, has won three successive terms (1999, 2004 and  2009) and been ruling the state of Maharastra since 1999.
3. Naveen Patnaik of BJD has won three successive terms (2000, 2004 and 2009) and been ruling the state of Orissa since 2000.
4. BJP has been ruling the state of Gujarat since 1995 except for 18 months in between. Narendra Modi has been the chief minister since 2001 and has won two successive terms (2002 and 2007).
5. BJP has won two successive terms (2003 and 2008) and been ruling the state of Madhya Pradesh since 2003.
6. BJP has won two successive terms (2003 and 2008) and been ruling the state of Chattisgarh since 2003.
7. Congress has won two successive terms (2004 and 2009) and been ruling the state of Andhra Pradesh since 2004.
8. Congress, along with allies, has been ruling the nation since 2004 and retained power in the 2009 election with the party itself winning 206 Parliament seats.

Two more facts which are more like exceptions in India.

1. The Left front has won seven successive terms and been ruling the state of West Bengal since 1977.
2. The SDF headed by Pawan Kumar Chamling has won four successive terms and been ruling the state of Sikkim since 1994. In the 2009 election, it has won all the 32 Assembly seats. Imagine an assembly without any presence of the opposition.

Some very well researched predictions...

1. The JD(U) and BJP alliance headed by Nitish Kumar has been ruling the state of Bihar since 2005. It is all set to retain power in the upcoming Assembly elections. Of course, this is not my prediction. Results of the 2009 parliament election in Bihar also indicate so.
2. The DMK under Karunanidi has been ruling the state of  Tamilnadu since 2006. It is all set to retain power in the upcoming Assembly elections. This too is not my prediction. The principal opposition party, AIADMK, has already given up.

Almost every media house in the country is peppering us with the prediction that Congress, along with its allies, would win the 2014 general election and the crown prince, Rahul Gandhi, is all set to become the Prime Minister of India. 2014 is still a long time to go, but the analysts are not afraid to place all their bets on Congress. Have you ever seen this kind of (too early) unanimity in analysts' opinion in the last 20 years?

I would also not be surprised if Narendra Modi retains power in Gujarat in 2012.

History of the last 30 years says the elctorate of our nation generally voted against the incumbents. Now they seem to be voting for the incumbents. Anti-incumbency is out and pro-incumbency is in. I am just wondering what could be the reason behind this. Have all these re-elected incumbents ruled so well to deserve re-election? Have Indian politics changed for better? I don't think so. Something is seriously wrong about this new trend.

To be continued...